Early music and with the Wailers
Tosh was born in Westmoreland, the westernmost parish of Jamaica. He was abandoned by his parents and "shuffled among relatives". When McIntosh was fifteen, his aunt died and he moved to Trenchtown in Kingston, Jamaica. He first learned guitar after watching a man in the country play a song that captivated him. He watched the man play the same song for half a day, memorizing everything his fingers were doing. He then picked up the guitar and played the song back to the man. The man then asked McIntosh who had taught him to play; McIntosh told him that he had. During the early 1960s, as an aspiring musician, Tosh went to vocal teacher Joe Higgs, who gave free music lessons to young people. Through his contact with Higgs, Tosh met Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) and Neville O'Reilly Livingston (Bunny Wailer). He then changed his name to Peter Tosh and the trio started singing together in 1962. Higgs taught the trio to harmonise and while developing their music, they would often play on the street corners of Trenchtown.
In 1964 Tosh helped organise the band the Wailing Wailers, with Junior Braithwaite, a falsetto singer, and backup singers Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith. Initially, Tosh was the only one in the group who could play musical instruments. According to Bunny Wailer, Tosh was critical to the band because he was a self-taught guitarist and keyboardist, and thus became an inspiration for the other band members to learn to play. The Wailing Wailers had a major ska hit with their first single, "Simmer Down", and recorded several more successful singles before Braithwaite, Kelso and Smith left the band in late 1965. Marley spent much of 1966 in Delaware in the United States with his mother, Cedella (née Malcolm) Marley-Booker, and for a brief time was working at a nearby Chrysler factory. He returned to Jamaica in early 1967 with a renewed interest in music and a new spirituality. Tosh and Bunny were already Rastafarians when Marley returned from the US, and the three became very involved with the Rastafari faith. Soon afterwards, they renamed the musical group the Wailers. Tosh would explain later that they chose the name Wailers because to "wail" means to mourn or to, as he put it, "...express one's feelings vocally". He also claims that he was the beginning of the group, and that it was he who first taught Bob Marley the guitar. Also according to Bunny Wailer, the early Wailers learned to play instruments from Tosh.
During the mid-1960s Tosh, along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, were introduced to Danny Sims and Johnny Nash who signed the three artists to an exclusive recording contract on Sims' and Nash's JAD Records label as well as an exclusive publishing agreement through Sims' music publishing company, Cayman Music. Rejecting the up-tempo dance of ska, the band slowed their music to a rocksteady pace, and infused their lyrics with political and social messages inspired by their new-found faith. The Wailers composed several songs for the American-born singer Nash before teaming with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry to record some of the earliest well-known reggae songs, including "Soul Rebel", "Duppy Conqueror", and "Small Axe". The collaboration had given birth to reggae music and in 1970 bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett and his brother, drummer Carlton Barrett, joined the group. They recorded the album The Best of The Wailers, which was produced by Leslie Kong and released in 1971.[citation needed]
In 1972, Danny Sims assigned the balance of the JAD Records recording contract with the band to Chris Blackwell and Island Records company and released their debut, Catch a Fire, in 1973, following it with Burnin' the same year. The Wailers had moved from many producers after 1970 and there were instances where producers would record rehearsal sessions that Tosh did and release them in England under the name "Peter Touch".
In 1973, Tosh was driving home with his girlfriend Evonne when his car was hit by another car driving on the wrong side of the road. The accident killed Evonne and severely fractured Tosh's skull. After Island Records president Chris Blackwell refused to issue his solo album in 1974, Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the Wailers, citing the unfair treatment they received from Blackwell, to whom Tosh often referred with a derogatory play on Blackwell's surname, 'Whiteworst'. Tosh had written many of the Wailers' hit songs such as "Get Up, Stand Up", "400 Years", and "No Sympathy". Tosh began recording and released his solo debut, Legalize It, in 1976 with CBS Records company, and Treasure Isle. The title track soon became popular among endorsers of cannabis legalization, reggae music lovers and Rastafari all over the world, and was a favourite at Tosh's concerts.
That was his last album from the Wailers, Island Records. In 2013, a book co-written by French scholar Dr Jeremie Kroubo Dagnini and American Lee Jaffe, his former associate, says Tosh was part of a smuggling operation that raised money to fund this album.
Solo career
Tosh started to make his own albums with Rolling Stones Records and CBS Records Equal Rights followed in 1977, featuring his recording of a song co-written with Marley, "Get Up, Stand Up", and a cover of "Stepping Razor" that would also appear on the soundtrack to the film Rockers.
Tosh organised a backing band, Word, Sound and Power, who were to accompany him on tour for the next few years, and many of whom performed on his albums of this period. In 1978, the Rolling Stones record label Rolling Stones Records contracted with Tosh, on which the album Bush Doctor was released, introducing Tosh to a larger audience. The album featured Rolling Stones frontmen Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and the lead single – a cover version of The Temptations song "Don't Look Back" – was performed as a duet with Jagger.
During Bob Marley's free One Love Peace Concert of 1978, Tosh lit a marijuana spliff and lectured about legalising cannabis, lambasting attending dignitaries Michael Manley and Edward Seaga for their failure to enact such legislation. Several months later he was apprehended by police as he left Skateland dance hall in Kingston and was beaten severely while in police custody.
Mystic Man (1979), and Wanted Dread and Alive (1981) followed, both released on Rolling Stones Records. Tosh tried to gain some mainstream success while keeping his militant views, but was only moderately successful, especially when compared to Marley's achievements.
In 1984, after the release of 1983's album Mama Africa, Tosh went into self-imposed exile, seeking the spiritual advice of traditional medicine men in Africa, and trying to free himself from recording agreements that distributed his records in South Africa. Tosh had been at odds for several years with his label, EMI, over a perceived lack of promotion for his music.
Tosh also participated in the international opposition to South African apartheid by appearing at anti-apartheid concerts and by conveying his opinion in various songs like "Apartheid" (1977, re-recorded 1987), "Equal Rights" (1977), "Fight On" (1979), and "Not Gonna Give It Up" (1983). In 1987, Peter Tosh seemed to be having a career revival. He was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Performance in 1987 for No Nuclear War, his last record.
Death
On 11 September 1987, just after Tosh had returned to his home in Jamaica, a three-man gang came to his house on motorcycles demanding money. Tosh replied that he did not have any with him but the gang did not believe him. They stayed at his residence for several hours and tortured Tosh in an attempt to extort money from him. Over the hours, as various associates of Tosh arrived to visit him, they were also taken hostage by the gunmen. The gunmen became more and more frustrated, especially the chief thug, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban, a man whom Tosh had previously befriended and tried to help find work after a long jail sentence. Tosh said he did not have any money in the house, after which Lobban and the fellow gunmen began opening fire in a reckless manner. Tosh was shot twice in the head and killed. Herbalist Wilton "Doc" Brown and disc jockey Jeff 'Free I' Dixon also died as a result of wounds sustained during the robbery. Several others in the house were wounded, including Tosh's common law wife Andrea Marlene Brown, Free I's wife Yvonne ("Joy"); Tosh's drummer Carlton "Santa" Davis, and musician Michael Robinson.
According to Police Commissioner Herman Ricketts, Dennis "Leppo" Lobban surrendered and two other men were interrogated but not publicly named. Lobban went on to plead innocent during his trial, telling the court he had been drinking with friends. The trial was held in a closed court due to the involvement of illegal firearms. Lobban was ultimately found guilty by a jury of eight women and four men and sentenced to death by hanging. His sentence was commuted in 1995 and Lobban remains in jail. Another suspect was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. The other two gunmen were never identified by name.
Discography
Legalize It (1976)
Equal Rights (1977)
Bush Doctor (1978)
Mystic Man (1979)
Wanted Dread & Alive (1981)
Mama Africa (1983)
No Nuclear War (1987)
Memphis
Peter Tosh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, oh op-bo, bo, bo-bo-bo!
Yes, me friend, me friend,
Them set me free again
Yes, me friend, me friend,
Me deh 'pon street again
The bars could not hold me
They try to keep me down,
But God put me around
Yes, I've been accused,
Wrongly abused, now
But through the powers of the Most-'Igh,
They've got to turn me loose, mm!
(Brr) Don't try (brr)
To cold me up (brr)
On this (brr) bridge now
I've got to reach Mount Zion
The 'ighest region
(Brr) If you bull-bucka,
Let me tell you that
I'm a duppy conqueror, conqueror
Yes, me friend, me good friend,
Them set me free again, mm
Yes, me friend,
Them turn me loose again
(Brr) Don't try (brr)
To cold me up on (brr)
This (brr) bridge now
I've got to reach Mount Zion
The 'ighest region
(Brr) If you bull-bucka,
Let me tell you
I'm a duppy conqueror, hit it! (conqueror)
(Yes, me friend,) me friend, me friend, me friend,
We deh a street again
Yes, me friend, me friend, me friend,
Dem set me free again
Dem set me free again
Don't try to show off
Fi make you friend dem laugh, what a la-la!
For I will cut you off
And I will have the last laugh
I'm cryin'! Yes, me friend,
We deh a street again, yea-eah
Yes, me friend, me friend, me friend,
(Dem set me free again.)
Oh-oh-ooh, yeah mm-mm
Bars could not hold me
The song “Memphis” by Peter Tosh is a song about his experience of being incarcerated unjustly and then being released from prison. The song has a reggae bounce with an irresistible rhythm of upbeat percussion instruments, horns, bass guitar and keyboard. The lyrics of this song are philosophical and religious, portraying a message of hope while embodying elements of the Rastafarian faith, which teaches that freedom is a natural right and that it's important to remain steadfast in the face of adversity. Tosh sings about being accused and wrongfully abused, but despite all that, he still found a way to have hope and faith in the Most High. He thanks his “friend”, which could mean God, for setting him free again, and then suggests that he has to keep moving forward to reach Mount Zion, which signifies a place of peace and righteousness.
Tosh’s lyrics also indicate his belief in the power of the Most High and his strength as a “duppy conqueror”. The term ‘duppy’ is a Jamaican term meaning ghost or spirit, but in this context, it alludes to the ability to overcome his oppressors. Tosh states that the bars could not hold him, signifying that external forces cannot contain his spirit, and he continues to rise above them. He also warns those who try to show off or belittle him that he will cut them off, indicating that he will not tolerate any further violation of his freedom.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, oh op-bo, bo, bo-bo-bo!
Peter Tosh expresses his enthusiasm to be free by using non-lexical vocables.
Yes, me friend, me friend,
Peter Tosh refers to himself as a friend to indicate being part of the community.
Them set me free again
Peter Tosh points out that he was previously imprisoned, and expresses gratitude for being free again.
Me deh 'pon street again
Peter Tosh indicates that he is back on the street, now that he is free again.
The bars could not hold me
Peter Tosh implies that he has been in prison, and that physical incarceration could not hold him.
Force could not control me now
Peter Tosh suggests that he is now free from external control.
They try to keep me down,
Peter Tosh indicates that he faced obstacles, which he implies was an attempt to suppress his freedom.
But God put me around
Peter Tosh attributes his freedom to a higher power.
Yes, I've been accused,
Peter Tosh acknowledges that he has been accused of wrongdoing.
Wrongly abused, now
Peter Tosh suggests that the accusations were unfair and abusive.
But through the powers of the Most-'Igh,
Peter Tosh implies that a higher power has helped him overcome the accusations.
They've got to turn me loose, mm!
Peter Tosh celebrates his freedom, implying that he has been vindicated.
(Brr) Don't try (brr)
Peter Tosh warns others against trying to hold him captive again by using onomatopoeia (brr).
To cold me up (brr)
Peter Tosh implies that he will not be imprisoned again, using the refrain from the previous line.
On this (brr) bridge now
Peter Tosh refers metaphorically to a bridge, which might symbolize a path or journey.
I've got to reach Mount Zion
Peter Tosh expresses his desire to reach a higher place, which might symbolize a spiritual goal.
The 'ighest region
Peter Tosh uses a dialect to emphasize his desire to reach the highest region possible.
(Brr) If you bull-bucka,
Peter Tosh warns his detractors using onomatopoeia and dialect.
Let me tell you that
Peter Tosh challenges his detractors to recognize his power.
I'm a duppy conqueror, conqueror
Peter Tosh asserts his confidence and claims victory over his enemies.
We deh a street again
Peter Tosh rejoices and implies his return to the community.
Don't try to show off
Peter Tosh warns others not to try to impress others with false bravado.
Fi make you friend dem laugh, what a la-la!
Peter Tosh accuses others of trying to impress their friends with laughter, which he implies is insincere and worthless.
For I will cut you off
Peter Tosh warns others that he will not tolerate false behavior.
And I will have the last laugh
Peter Tosh implies that he will ultimately be the victorious one.
I'm cryin'! Yes, me friend,
Peter Tosh expresses his emotions and reinforces his identity as a friend.
Dem set me free again.
Peter Tosh restates his gratitude for being free again.
Oh-oh-ooh, yeah mm-mm
Peter Tosh expresses his emotions non-lexically, possibly indicating relief.
Bars could not hold me
Peter Tosh reinforces the idea that physical imprisonment could not hold him.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: BOB MARLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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